Terps notebook: Brad Craddock gets physical against Temple

Freshman Brad Craddock, who played Australian rules football, got rammed head-on by the ball carrier during the opening kickoff in Saturday's game and was credited with the tackle.

On the next kickoff, Craddock met the same returner — Temple's Matt Brown — again. This time, Brown seemed to stiff-arm Craddock to the upper body before Brown was knocked down by Anthony Nixon at Temple's 45-yard line.

Some kickers might shy away from contact, but not Craddock.

"Back home, I played Australian rules [football]," he said. "It's just tackling all the time. So that was fun — that was good fun. That was the best part of the game. I enjoyed that a lot."

Craddock didn't get off on the right foot in last week's season opener, missing a 25-yard field goal attempt against William and Mary.

"I was pretty nervous last week," Craddock said.

Against Temple, the kicker converted a 45-yard field goal in the first quarter. Craddock then converted a 26-yard attempt that hit the upright in the third quarter.

"I was just trying to make it close," Craddock said.

Diggs gets involved

Each week, Maryland tries to devise ways to get freshman receiver-returner Stefon Diggs the ball as often as possible. It's pretty clear he can make big plays in a variety of ways.

On Saturday, Diggs had three punt returns for 34 yards, including one that went for 27 yards. He also had two carries for 17 yards and one kick return for 25 yards.

Diggs' biggest contribution came as a slot receiver. He had three receptions for 59 yards, including a criticial 38-yard catch in the fourth quarter.